Bills 2010 Film Review: Week 9 vs. Chicago (Second Half)

In Week 9 of the 2010 NFL regular season, the Buffalo Bills and the Chicago Bears were tied at seven at halftime in Toronto. The Bears opened up a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter when Jay Cutler hit Greg Olsen for a short touchdown pass, but missed an opportunity to extend their lead to 10 points when Robbie Gould missed a 42-yard field goal. The Bills then rallied to tie the score with 18 seconds remaining in the first half, as Ryan Fitzpatrick connected with Roscoe Parrish for the equalizer.

In the second half, each team would score two more touchdowns - but the Bears wound up getting three more points than the Bills did, securing a win and Buffalo's eighth straight loss.

Week 9, second half: Bears outscore Bills 15-12, win 22-19 - NOTES

• Julius Peppers doesn't bite on play-action out of Pistol formation. Fitzpatrick throws into the ground on boot. Peppers untouched, by design, and doesn't over-pursue.

Week 9, second half: Bears outscore Bills 15-12, win 22-19 - NOTES (cont.)

• Fred Jackson nicely picks up a Bears blitz, allowing Fitzpatrick to step up and deliver to Steve Johnson for first down yardage on a third down. Demetrius Bell gets a piece of Brian Urlacher on a delayed blitz - while blocking another Bears lineman - to keep Fitzpatrick clean long enough.
• David Martin drives Peppers backwards, Peppers sheds and stops Jackson after a gain of four.
• Bills' line gets little push, Jackson stopped for a short loss on 3rd & 1. Problem exacerbated when Jackson fumbles and the Bears recover.
• Dwan Edwards handles Frank Omiyale at the point of attack, sheds, and stops Matt Forte after a gain of two.
• Chris Kelsay blows up a pulling guard, but can't quite bring down Forte around the ankles. Forte squirms forward for about four yards.
• Kelsay gets pressure on Jay Cutler, and as Cutler flushes out of the pocket, Kelsay is held by J'Marcus Webb. Cutler picks up a first down on the scramble. Kelsay is not happy.
• Bears motion Earl Bennett into the backfield, lined up behind Forte at running back. Cutler fakes to Forte on a plunge, then tosses left to Bennett. Reggie Torbor bites on the fake, allowing Bennett to get the edge and run for a first down.
• Greg Olsen makes a nice catch on the sideline in front of Torbor, who had excellent coverage on the play.
• Forte takes a carry off tackle left. Torbor tries to spin inside, Chris Williams blocks him up, and Forte bounces it outside for a long gain. Donte Whitner forced to chase him down and force him out of bounds inside the five-yard line.
• Paul Posluszny meets Chester Taylor hard in the running lane, but can't wrap up. Taylor slips, falls forward to the one-yard line. Lane opened up by Kyle Williams, who tossed the guard aside like a rag doll.
• Taylor runs weak side on goal line, Bills can't get a man free. Very easy touchdown, Bears lead 14-7.
• Andy Levitre pulls on a play-action fake. Fitzpatrick steps up into the pocket and delivers a 15-yard strike to Johnson for a first down.
• Another run out of the Pistol, this time with C.J. Spiller. Blows past Urlacher to the outside, but doesn't read a Parrish block well, runs into two Bears defenders, and loses two yards.
• On 3rd & 6, Fitzpatrick leads Parrish, who had all but stopped settling down into a hole in the zone. Parrish lays out and makes a terrific catch to sustain the drive.
• Levitre pulls on a play-action fake again (Pistol formation). Fitzpatrick leads a wide-open Parrish too far down the middle of the field. Parrish again lays out and gets two hands on it, but can't maintain possession as he hits the turf.
• Jackson drops a dump-off pass. This happens a lot, but there seems to be a different reason each time. Here, Jackson turns his head upfield too quickly.
• Fitzpatrick steps up into the pocket and throws a bullet to Johnson on a dig, who turns it upfield, puts a gorgeous spin move on Danieal Manning, and takes the ball all the way inside the Bears' five-yard line. Arguably Stevie's best after-catch effort on the season. Yet the prettiest part of this play was the pass.
• Jackson scores on a four-yard run. Lined up in the slot (empty set), motioned into the backfield, and took a simple off-tackle draw left. Geoff Hangartner threw the key block on the play.
• Israel Idonije blocks Rian Lindell's extra point attempt. A large chunk of Buffalo's momentum is gone. Bears still lead, 14-13. Idonije blew up Eric Wood and Garrison Sanborn on the play.
• Posluszny held by two separate Bears on a blitz. Cutler throws a prayer down the middle of the field, and it lands in Devin Hester's arms. Hester beat Leodis McKelvin on the play.
• Williams blows up a Bears double-team, allowing Spencer Johnson to slide in and stop Taylor for no gain.
• Cutler reads hot on a blitz, but Bills had him baited correctly. Antonio Coleman misses an opportunity at an interception, however, as he doesn't get back quickly enough. Coleman stops Brandon Manumaleuna as soon as the ball is completed.
• Cutler forces a pass downfield to Olsen, who is double-covered. McKelvin registers a nice pass break-up on the play.
• Williams runs right past the left guard, crushing Cutler. Ball is tipped and lands harmlessly incomplete.
• Whitner called for a pass interference on Bennett that sustains a Bears drive. Close call. Posluszny nearly tips the ball away before it gets to Bennett.
• Kelsay runs by Omiyale like he's a mannequin. As Cutler tries to spin away from Kelsay, Johnson sneaks in, strips the ball out, and then recovers his own forced fumble. Bills ball.
• Stevie catches a short route, makes Urlacher miss to pick up a few extra yards.
• Levitre pulls on another play-fake. This time, they throw a weak-side screen to Jackson, but the Bills can't pick up Anthony Adams, who blows the play up. Jackson does well to get barely past the original line of scrimmage.
• Fitzpatrick throws a risky pass outside to Lee Evans. Evans makes the grap, toe-taps for a first down.
• On an off-right-tackle trap, Levitre pulls and Corey McIntyre blows open a gaping hole. Spiller races through it, then runs over Chris Harris to cap off a beautiful play.
• Evans makes a tough grab on a slant in front of Tim Jennings. First and goal for the Bills.
• Stevie makes a great catch on a low-thrown slant. Ruled down inside the one-yard line. A better throw from Fitzpatrick is probably an easy score.
• McIntyre rewarded for his great drive by capping it off with a one-yard touchdown. Bills lead 19-14. This was McIntyre's first career touchdown.
• Chan Gailey dials up a two-point conversion with 10:24 remaining in the game. Jackson takes a simple handoff, and Manning bottles him up for no gain. Still 19-14.
• McKelvin makes a huge tackle on Johnny Knox on the ensuing kickoff. Might've been a long gainer. McKelvin shaken up on the play.
• Edwards dominates Williams at the point of attack, stops Forte around the ankles for a short gain.
• Bears set up a screen for Olsen. Ball glances off his hands, and Bryan Scott can't haul in the tip. Would've been a game-changing play. Bears drive ends on the next play, anyway.
• Off the turnover, the Bills take a shot down the field. Fitzpatrick rather severely underthrows an open Johnson, allowing Jennings to get underneath and pick off the pass. Jennings returns it all the way to Buffalo's 23-yard line. Again - there goes Buffalo's momentum.
• Posluszny meets Forte at the line of scrimmage, brings him down behind it.
• Kelsay tosses Olsen aside, pressures Cutler into a throw-away. Forces a third down.
• On 3rd & 10, Bills rush three. Cutler has all day to throw. Olsen settles into the zone 18 yards down the field, and Cutler finds him for the first down.
• Williams blatantly held as he pressures Cutler. Goes uncalled. Torbor breaks up a short pass intended for Bennett.
• Posluszny wrestles Forte to the ground to bring up 3rd & Goal. Posluszny again having a good half.
• McKelvin bites hard on inside move by Bennett, who breaks outside for a very easy touchdown. McKelvin called for illegal hands to face on an awful play for him. Bears up 20-19.
• Posluszny a half-step late to defend a Forte shovel pass; the runner walks in to extend the lead to 22-19. Great play call by Mike Martz, utilizing Olsen in motion to take Bills defenders out of the box.
• With 6:36 remaining in fourth quarter, Parrish still in the game. Pre-snap, however, he is visibly rubbing his right wrist.
• Adams cleanly beats Wood to the inside - simply stands up at the snap, then rushes the gap. The delay flusters Wood. Fitzpatrick hit, throws incomplete.
• Parrish catches a bubble screen, then carries two Bears defenders down to close to first down yardage.
• Martin assigned to block Idonije on a play fake. Idonije sacks Fitzpatrick, who nearly ducks the tackle but loses his balance and falls.
• Johnson beats Tillman, then beats him to the corner for first down yardage on 3rd & 11.
• Spiller motioned wide left, leaving Evans in the slot. Evans runs a wheel and gets deep, but Fitzpatrick leads him out of bounds. Probably incomplete if it's a better throw.
• Nelson, lined up wide, runs right past the corner, who was playing zone. Fitzpatrick tries to hit him in the seam in front of the safety, but throws way too low. Nelson can't make a sliding catch. Nelson probably moonwalks into the end zone if the throw is chest high, as Harris didn't have an angle.
• Parrish makes a terrific catch on the sideline, but his hand comes down out of bounds. Incomplete. Hand that came down was his injured wrist. Parrish in visible pain. This was Roscoe's last play of the season.
• Stevie slips on fourth down, incomplete. Bell holding penalty declined (Idonije). Fitzpatrick crushed on the play.
• On 3rd & 1 for the Bears, Johnson and Akin Ayodele bottle up Taylor for no gain. Bears forced to punt, Bills will get one last shot. Williams eats up three Bears blockers on the play.
• Brad Maynard shanks a punt. It bounces at the Bills' 17-yard line, trickles all the way down to the one-yard line. It's official: the Bills can't catch a break.
• Fitzpatrick cracked by Peppers, but hits Johnson on a slant for 16 yards. Peppers injury gives the Bills a free timeout.
• Fitzpatrick forces a pass into Donald Jones, who was double-covered. Ball is tipped and picked off by Harris. Ballgame.